Major System List 0-9

Florian Dellé

T here is a memory technique which is ideal for numbers but also any other kind of information. We believe it is so powerful, it deserves an entire series of beautiful articles: It is called the Major System and is based on a phonetic number code. We even developed an alternative for the Major System Code. It introduces visual mnemonics to learn it, while keeping the original phonetic groups with new assignments. In this article we will focus on creating a Major System List for the first 10 digits – both for the classic and our visual code. To fully understand these two lists we strongly suggest reading the two previous articles before you read this one.

Classic Code

VS

Visual Code

Creating a 1-digit Major System List with 10 images is an easy task. But we wanted to bring even this beginner method on the next level.

Using a 1-digit system (10 images) alone is great to demonstrate the power of memory techniques to newcomers and children. You can also use the 1-digit system to teach your friends and family. Particular children love the simplicity of it. With our free sets of 50 training cards for each code variation, you get a beautiful and straight forward entry into the Major System. With this Major System List you have all you need to start learning and teaching. You will find the free download for the entire sets in high quality at the end of this article.

For a more regular use it is not enough though because of the very often repeating words, which quickly gets confusing and boring. But in combination with a 2-digit system (100 images) you can memorize odd numbers. In case you even plan for a 3-digit system (1000 images) you can still use it for single digit numbers in information that you are memorizing.

When you use your Major System with the Method of Loci, you can literally memorize thousands of numbers. The current world record (March, 2017) for 15 minutes Numbers is 1100 by Alex Mullen. On websites like Memory League you will find memory athletes from all around the world competing against each other to memorize digits, cards and other information in 60 second matches against each other. And all are using journeys through their houses, offices and parks.

0

Major System List: 0

We begin our Major System List with the number zero. In the classic code we assign the Z, S and soft C. For the visual code we assign the letter R. The created words in both lists are all a bit awkward in spelling but work well as images. An easy spelling would be the encoded letter at the beginning of the word and only vowels following it. As you will see throughout our entire list, this is seldom the case. Luckily it is all about phonetics and even difficult spellings can sound perfect. All that counts is finding a good image. The spelling quickly becomes irrelevant.

Classic Code

(Z, S, soft C)

Zoo, Saw, Sioux, Soy, CIA

Visual Code

(R)

Raw, Ray, Rio, Row, Rye

1

Major System List: 1

The number one is equal in both the classic as well as the visual Major System. The assigned letters are T and D. We found plenty good ones here, which are all working well. You probably want to pick one starting with a T though, since that is also the association for the letter assignment. A popular choice is “Tea”.

Classic Code

(T, D)

Tea, Tie, Toy, Dew, Dough, Dye

Visual Code

(T, D)

Tea, Tie, Toy, Dew, Dough, Dye

2

Major System List: 2

For the number two we also have the same phonetic group in the classic as well as the visual code. In both systems the assigned letter is the N. This group is a difficult one in the English language. Few words start with an N and have no further encoded letter from the Major System. The only useful words we found were “new” (as in New Years firework) and “Noah” (as in Noah’s arc). This is why we suggest the “knee” as an alternative, using a silent K. Another peculiar one is the word “honey”, which starts with an unencoded H and O.

Classic Code

(n)

New, Noah, Knee, Honey

Visual Code

(N)

New, Noah, Knee, Honey

3

Major System List: 3

With the number three we have our last number that is equal in both the classic and the visual code. We assign the letter M to it. Here our choices are limited again. The easier ones are “Ma” and “Moa” (extinct bird from New Zealand). The more difficult ones are “meow” and “mow”. Careful if you pick “meow”: obviously we used a cat for that one. But cat itself could also be 71 (classic) or 61 (visual). Avoid equal or similar images at all cost!

Classic Code

(M)

Ma, Meow, Moa, Mow

Visual Code

(M)

Ma, Meow, Moa, Mow

4

Major System List: 4

The number four is a strange one in both classic and visual code. For the classic version we assign the R. We have already seen these images with the visual code for zero. With the visual code for the number four we assign F, V and PH. Those are really tough in English. We even added the difficult word “ivy” here, because there are so few alternatives.

Classic Code

(R)

Raw, Ray, Rio, Row, Rye

Visual Code

(F, V, PH)

Foe, Phi, Vow, Ivy

5

Major System List: 5

Next in our Major System List is the 5: “Five fingers create an L” is one of several mnemonics for the classic number 5 and thus we assign the L. The possibilities here are very limited again. We had to become creative to find a few useful ones. The visual code instead uses S, Z and soft C. Those images we already now from the classic zero and they work pretty well.

Classic Code

(l)

Ley, Lie, Loo, Low

Visual Code

(S, Z, soft C)

Saw, Sioux, Soy, Zoo, CIA

6

Major System List: 6

Both versions work great with the number six: For the classic code we use J, CH and SH. With that we can create many good and easy images. The same goes for the visual code, where we assign hard G, K and hard C. You shouldn’t have any problems to pick a good one here.

Classic Code

(J, CH, SH)

Joy, Chai, Chi, Chia, Chihuahua, Shoe

Visual Code

(G, K, hard C)

Go, Gaia, Cow, Koi, Kiwi

7

Major System List: 7

In the classic code the number seven is assigned to the K, hard G and hard C. We have just seen these images before with the visual 6. You can create great images with that. For the visual code we assign L, which is just as bad as we have seen before with the classic 5. We really tried our best though to find some useful images.

Classic Code

(K, hard G, hard c)

Koi, Kiwi, Cow, Go, Gaia

Visual Code

(L)

Loo, Low, Ley, Lie

8

Major System List: 8

Here we find the F, V and PH assigned to the eight with the classic code. As you might remember, we have seen these before with the visual code for the 4. They are limited but we found some nice images with “foe” and “phi”. For the visual code of the eight we have the best category of them all. It has assigned the B and P and it is loaded with great images. You will have a hard time to pick the best since most of them are great.

Classic Code

(F, V, PH)

Foe, Phi, Ivy, Vow

Visual Code

(B, P)

Bee, Boa, Bow, Buy, Bye, Pee, Pie

9

Major System List: 9

By now you have seen them all: The classic code assigns the P and B to the nine, just as we have seen for the visual 8. Again, this is a great category. The visual code assigns J, CH and SH to the nine. That is also a sweet category with plenty of options to choose from. With that we conclude our Major System List for beginners.

Classic Code

(P, B)

Bee, Boa, Bow, Buy, Bye, Pee, Pie

Visual Code

(J, Ch, SH)

Chai, Chi, Chia, Chihuahua, Joy, Shoe

Free Download

So, we hope you enjoyed our Major System List for 1-digit images. As promised you can download our entire sets for free – both classic and visual code with each 50 images. They come in a high resolution (1250x1500 pixel), packed into a ZIP folder. Just drop your email address below and subscribe to our newsletter – your download will be available right afterwards.

Major System Classic 1-digit Set

Major System Visual 1-digit Set

Free Training Images

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Major System 00-99 Training Decks

We offer the ultimate training decks for the Major System images from 00-99 in both the classic and visual code. Both decks have been upgraded to nearly 800 images each! You will find all words from our grand Major System collection table above including all the examples used in this article. Each set comes with high definitionJPEGs as well as PDFs for easy print. Get it now and start memorizing today. It was never easier!

End

More Memory Tutorials

Create your first Major System 100 list with images from 00-99. With our grand collection, our detailed guidance and our training images, you can learn it 10x faster and have more fun at the same time.

The Visual Major System Code is an alternative to the popular original with only visual associations for the code but still with the same phonetic groups. Learn more about our system and get our free training cards.